Multiple lever connector assembly

Abstract: A multiple lever connector assembly includes a plurality of male and female connector housings (111, 114) accommodating terminals, a plurality of pairs of lever support shafts (119) each of which pairs protrude from side walls of each male connector housing (111) respectively, a plurality of operating levers (120) each having two bearing holes (121) into which the lever support shafts (119) of each male connector housing (111) are fitted, so that the operating levers (120) are rotatably mounted on the male connector housings (111) respectively, a plurality of cam action sections (116) formed on the female connector housings (114) respectively for displacing the male and female connector housings (111, 114) by the cam action of the operating levers (120) so that the male and female connector housings (111, 114) are mated together and unmated, and a coupling member (127) coupling the male connector housings (111) to one another so that they arranged side by side with a predetermined clearance between one of the side walls of each male connector housing (111) and one of the side walls of the adjacent male connector housing (111) opposite the one of the side walls of each first connector housing (111). The clearance is set so as to be smaller than a depth of fit between the lever support shafts (119) and the respective bearing holes (121) of the operating levers (120).

Description: This invention relates to a lever connector having an operating lever which is operated so that male and female connectors are mated together and unmated from each other utilizing the principles of the lever, and more particularly to a multiple lever connector assembly according to the preamble of claim 1. A multiple lever connector assembly having a plurality of connector housings integrally coupled to one another side by side has recently been provided. For example, Fig. 8 shows a twin lever connector assembly. Two male connector housings 1 are integrally coupled to each other so as to be arranged right and left in parallel with each other. Each male connector housing 1 has two lever support shafts 2 protruding from right-hand and left-hand side walls thereof respectively. A gate-shaped operating lever 3 having two cam grooves is rotatably mounted on the lever support shafts 2 of each male connector housing 1 so as to straddle the same. Each male connector housing 1 has two outer walls formed integrally therewith to be located outside both sides of the operating lever 3 respectively. The outer walls 4 restrict the movement of the lever 3 so that it can be prevented from being disconnected from the lever support shafts 2 when rotatively moved. In the assembling of the above-described multiple lever connector assembly, the operating lever 3 is mounted on the connector housing 1 by inserting the lever support shafts 2 into shaft holes 3a thereof respectively. Each leg of the operating lever 3 is expanded outwardly by the length of each lever support shaft 2 when the lever support shafts 2 of the connector housing 1 are inserted into the respective shaft holes 3a. Accordingly, the outer walls 4 are pushed by the respective legs of the operating lever 3 to be thereby expanded outwardly. Since the outer walls 4 are located at both sides of each male connector housing 1 in the above-described conventional construction, the two male connector housings 1 are coupled together with a space allowing elastic deformation of the two outer walls 4 therebetween. Consequently, the lateral dimension of the multiple lever connector assembly is increased, which poses a problem. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem and an object of the present invention is to provide a multiple lever connector assembly wherein the overall lateral dimension of a plurality of connector housings coupled to one another side by side can be reduced. To achieve the object, the present invention provides a multiple lever connector assembly with the features of claim 1. According to the above-described construction, the operating levers are first mounted on the respective first connector housings in the assembling of the multiple lever connector assembly. Subsequently, the first connector housings are coupled to one another by a coupling member so that they are arranged side by side. Then the clearances are each set to be smaller than the depth of fit between the lever support arms and the respective bearing holes of the operating levers. Each operating lever is subjected to excessive resistance and is expanded to be thereby displaced in such a direction that one or both of the lever support shafts fall out of the bearing shafts when each operating lever is rotatively moved for the mating and unmating of the connectors. However, the movement of each operating lever can be restricted by the side face of the operating lever of the adjacent first connector housing. Consequently, the operating levers can be prevented from disconnecting from the respective connector housings without the outer walls disposed outside the respective operating levers of the conventional multiple lever connector assembly. The invention will be described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a embodiment of a twin lever connector assembly in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a male connector block of the twin lever connector assembly: Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the male connector block; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an engaged portion formed in each male connector housing of the twin lever connector assembly; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an engaging portion formed in each male connector housing of the twin lever connector assembly; Fig. 6 is a side view of the twin lever connector, showing an initial stage of the mating of male and female connectors; Fig. 7 is a side view of the twin lever connector assembly, showing the state of completion of the mating of the male and female connectors; and Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional twin lever connector assembly, showing the mounting of the operating lever. An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. In the embodiment, a multiple lever connector assembly is formed into a twin type including a male connector block 112 comprising two male connector housings 111 coupled to each other so that they are arranged side by side, as shown in Fig. 1. The male connector housings 111 are to be mated with female connector 113 respectively. Each female connector 113 includes a female connector housing 114 formed into the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and accommodating a number of female terminals (not shown) therein, as well known in the art. A cover 115 is integrally provided on the top of the female connector housing 114. Two cam projections 116 coaxially project from central right-hand and left-hand side walls of the female connector housing 114 respectively. The male connector block 112 comprises two male connector housings 111 coupled to each other so that they are arranged side by side, as described above. Each male connector housing 111 includes a square female connector accommodating chamber 117 capable of accommodating the female connector housing 114 therein. A number of male terminal accommodating cavities 118 are defined beneath the female connector accommodating chamber 117. The distal ends of male terminals (not shown) disposed in the respective cavities 118 are to extend in a row into the female connector accommodating chamber 117. Two lever support shafts 119 project from the right-hand and left-hand side walls of each male connector housing 111 respectively. A two-legged operating lever 120 has two bearing holes 121 formed in legs 120a thereof respectively. The lever support shafts 119 are fitted into the bearing holes 121 respectively so that the operating lever 120 is rotatably mounted on the male connector housing 111 so as to straddle the same, as shown in Fig. 3. Each leg 120a has an arced cam groove 122 formed about the bearing hole 121 and an insertion groove 123 extending from the right-hand edge of the inner face thereof to the right-hand end of the cam groove 122. The cam projections 116 of the female connector housing 114 are inserted through the insertion grooves 123 into the cam grooves 122, thereby engaging them, respectively. The male connector block 112 has two outer walls 124 integrally formed on the right-hand and left-hand side walls thereof. One of the legs 120a of one operating lever 120 is held between one of the outer wall 124 and the right-hand side wall of one male connector housing 111 while one of the legs 120a of the other operating lever 120 is held between the other outer wall 124 and the left-hand side wall of the other male connector housing 111. Accordingly, the width of a space between the outer walls 124 and the side walls of the male connector housings respectively are set so as to be equal to or slightly larger than the thickness of each leg 120a of the operating lever 120. Referring to Fig. 2, the left-hand male connector housing 111 has two engaging sections 125 integrally formed in the front and rear portions of the side wall thereof opposite to the other male connector housing 111. The right-hand male connector housing 111 has two engaged sections 126 integrally formed in the front and rear portions of the side wall thereof opposite to the other male connector housing 111. These two pairs of engaging and engaged sections 125 and 126 constitute two coupling members 127 coupling the male connector housings 111 together. As shown in Fig. 4, the engaged section 126 includes an engagement groove 126a formed by expanding and then inwardly bending opposite side edges of a concave portion formed in the side wall of the male connector housing 111. The engaged section 126 further includes a latch claw 128 projecting from the central concave portion. The engaging sections 125 project so as to be opposite to the engaged sections 126 respectively. As shown in Fig. 5, the right-hand and left-hand edges of the projecting face of the engaging section 125 are further projected, thereby serving as engaging projections 125a. The engaging projections 125a of each engaging section 125 are engageable with the engagement groove 126a of each engaged section 126. The central portion of the upper half of the engaging section 125 is notched obliquely while the lower half thereof is notched to the face of the side wall of the male connector housing 111, thereby serving as a latch hole 125b. The latch claw 128 of each engaged section 126 is engaged with the latch hole 125b of each engaging section 125. The projected portion of each engaging section 125 and the projected portion of each engaged section 126 are dimensioned so that a clearance between the adjacent faces of the operating levers is smaller than a free space for the engagement between the lever support shaft 119 and the bearing hole 121. The mounting of the operating lever 120 on the male connector housing 111 will now be described. First, when the operating lever 120 is mounted on the right-hand male connector housing 111, the lever 120 is taken in hands and the legs 120a are applied to the respective side walls of the male connector housing 111 so that the lever 120 straddles it. The lower ends of the legs 120a are pushed against the respective lever support shafts 119. Then, when the lever 120 is forced down, the legs 120a are flexed such that they are expanded by the respective lever support shafts 119. When the legs 120a are further forced down, the lever support shafts 119 are fitted into the respective bearing holes 121, whereupon the lever 120 is rotatably mounted on the male connector housing 111. In the above-described process of mounting, the left-hand leg 120a of the operating lever 120 is flexed without restraint. However, since the right-hand leg 120a collides with the inner face of the outer wall 124 of the male connector housing 111, the outer wall wall is flexed outwardly, as the right-hand leg 120a pushes onto the inner face of the wall. The other operating lever 120 is then mounted on the left-hand male connector housing 111 in the same manner as described above. Then, the male connector housings 111 are placed to be opposite to each other, and the distal ends of the engaging projections 125a of the left-hand male connector housing 111 are pushed against the engagement grooves 126a of the right-hand male connector housing 111 from below respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. The left-hand male connector housing 111 is displaced upwardly relative to the right-hand male connector housing 111 with the engaging projections 125a being engaged with the engagement grooves 126a, so that the latch claws 128 of the right-hand connector housing 111 are engaged with the latch holes 125b of the left-hand male connector housing 111 respectively. The two male connector housings 111 are thus coupled to each other side by side. The width of the space between the adjacent faces of the operating levers 120 is smaller than the allowance for the engagement between the lever support shaft 119 and the bearing hole 120. The mating of the male and female connector housings 111 and 114 will now be described. The female connector housings 114 are inserted into the accommodating chambers 117 of the male connector housings 111 from the top thereof respectively. In this regard, the cam projections 116 of each female connector housing 114 are guided by the respective insertion grooves 123 downwardly, engaging the respective cam grooves 122. In this state, when the operating lever 120 is rotatively moved upwardly or in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 6, the cam projection 116 is forced downwardly by the cam action between the same and the cam groove 122, whereupon the female connector housing 114 is displaced into the mating engagement with the male connector housing 111 as shown in Fig. 7. When the male and female connector housings 111 and 114 are mated together, a downward force acts on the operating lever 120 such that the lower ends of the lever 120 are expanded to be thereby displaced in such a direction that the bearing holes 121 are disengaged from the lever support shafts 119. In the embodiment, however, the width of the space between the adjacent faces of the operating levers 120 is smaller than the allowance for the engagement between the lever support shaft 119 and the bearing hole 120. Consequently, since the movement of the operating lever 120 is restricted by the side face of the adjacent operating lever 120, it can be prevented from falling out of the male connector housing 111. According to the above-described embodiment, the side face of each operating lever 120 adjacent to that of the other operating lever 120 restricts the movement of the other operating lever 120 in such a direction that the bearing holes 121 are disengaged from the respective lever support shafts 119. Consequently, the outer wall employed in the conventional construction need not be provided between the adjacent male connector housings for restricting the movement of each male connector housing, which renders the connector small-sized. In the foregoing embodiment, each coupling member 127 comprises the engaging section 125 and the engaged section 126 engaged with the engaging section 125 so that the male connector housings 111 are coupled together. However, the manner of coupling should not be limited to this.

Claims: A multiple lever connector assembly comprising a plurality of first connector housings (111) each having opposite side walls, a plurality of second connector housings (114) for mating with and unmating from the first connector housings (111) respectively, a plurality of pairs of terminals each of which pairs are disposed in the first and second connector housings (111, 114) respectively and are electrically connected together when the first and second connector housings (111, 114) are mated together, a plurality of pairs of lever support shafts (119) each of which pairs protrude from the side walls of each first connector housing (111) respectively, a plurality of operating levers (120) each having two bearing holes (121) into which the lever support shafts (119) of each first connector housing (111) are fitted, so that the operating levers (120) are rotatably mounted on the first connector housings (111), straddling the first connector housings (111), respectively, and a plurality of cam action sections (116) provided on the second connector housings (114) respectively for displacing the first and second connector housings (111, 114) by the cam action of the operating levers (120) in a first direction so that the first and second connector housings (111, 114) are mated together and in a second direction so that the first and second connector housings (111, 114) are unmated, characterized by a coupling member (127) coupling the first connector housings (111) to one another so that the first connector housings (111) are arranged side by side with a predetermined clearance between one side wall of a leg (120a) of one operating lever (120) fitted to a first connector housing (111) and the side wall of a leg (120a) of one operating lever (120) fitted to the adjacent first connector housing (111) opposite said side wall of said other leg (120a), and in that said clearance is set so as to be smaller than a depth of fit between the lever support shafts (119) and the respective bearing holes (121) of the operating levers (120), such that each lever is prevented from disconnecting from its respective housing by the adjacent lever. A multiple lever connector assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the first connector housings (111) coupled to one another by the coupling member (127) so as to be arranged side by side constitute an integral connector block (112) and that the first connector housings (111) located at opposite sides of the connector block (112) have outer walls (124) disposed outside the outer lever support shafts (119) and covering portions thereof including the outer lever support shafts (119) respectively.

Inventors: NAKATA HIROYUKI, TANIUCHI OSAMU, NAKATA, HIROYUKI, TANIUCHI, OSAMU
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13